Hello everybody! I’m back! And I have a very funny, very adventurous story for you today.
I don't know if you heard, but two weeks ago I went on a one week trip with my dad to the Rocky Mountains in Montana. Sounds super fun, doesn't it? It really was, and it wasn’t just the mountains and being with my dad that made it fun. There were many, many other things that made this trip fun.
It all started when my dad told me that we were leaving in two days. I was confused about where we were going, and I was told we would be going to Montana. The next day I packed and played a new PS3 game my dad gave me (my siblings too, but it was presented mainly towards me), and the next morning, me and my dad left two hours later than we wanted to (but still at a reasonable time.)
The first few hours of the trip went pretty smoothly. I took a nap and when we were in Cavalier, ND, we stopped to buy some food. My dad even bought some sour gummy worms as a reward if we did something significant. It was smooth sailing from there. We drove on Highway 5 till we got to Highway 28, then we drove towards Williston, ND. The first problem started when my dad lost a data signal on his phone. He doesn't use Verizon or T-Mobile, so his coverage isn’t exactly the best. This was the case in a 40-mile radius outside Williston. We couldn't call anybody so that caused some concern. While in Williston, my dad noticed a smell in our car while a huge semi passed us. I said that the smell was the exhaust from the truck, but we were wrong. Even after that truck passed, the smell was still there.
Eventually we made it to Trenton, ND, which is about 7 miles west from Williston. We never made it out of that small town. Why you may ask? Well, we saw something that looked like smoke coming from the edges of the car's hood. We both instinctively looked at the engine heat dial, and saw that the arrow was about a centimeter past the “H” line. My dad immediately pulled over. We eventually learned that the coolant hose in the car had a big hole so the coolant had been leaking. We moved about 200 ft. to a more “parking lot” location and sat and evaluated our choices. My dad had no cell phone service, and I didn't want to use Emergency Mode on my phone.
That’s when Bob showed up!
Really! Just seconds after we discussed Emergency Mode, a guy pulled up from, literally, out of nowhere and asked if we needed help. We obviously said yes we needed help, because there was no way our car would would make it back to Williston and we couldn't do anything else so we accepted Bob’s help.
We drove to an auto parts store, and to our surprise, they actually had the exact part we needed. Many of you might not know, but we were driving a 1997 Subaru Legacy Brighton Wagon. Probably the ugliest and most unpopular car, that was both hard to find parts for, and just not a car in its day anymore. We installed the part, but then it started pouring rain and we just couldn’t keep going.(Note: Trenton is only about 6 miles from Montana.) Luckily, Bob gave us some rough directions to a campsite only a mile out of Trenton. The mosquitoes at the campsite were crazy, and I struggled to set up our tent, but we had a good dinner of grilled meat, and we slept mostly well. Oh, also, the campsite was free.
The next day went really smoothly. We drove as far as we could on I-94, but my dad felt some kind of vibration in the steering wheel, so we stopped in Billings Montana. Almost every auto repair center was full, so we spent 4 hours in Billings just looking for a place to help us find the problem in our car. We finally learned that our tires needed to be balanced, but by then it was six o’clock. Every auto repair shop was closed. So we continued on. I was the navigator, so I was responsible for finding where to camp. I saw that the Missouri River Headwaters State Park would be a nice place to camp, so we tried to camp there, but the campsite was full. And the camping fee was $28. But for the people who know me really, really well, then you should know that I never have a Plan B, but...SURPRISE!! I had one, so all we did was drive a half an hour more and we stayed at the Toll Mt Campsite. And it was free! This time I had a better experience setting up our tent and my dad and I grilled some meat and went to bed.
The next day went really well. I slept really well and we packed our things quickly. I took some pictures and this is when I heard the news that we were going to Idaho to see some friends. That meant we still had to drive the equivalent of another North Dakota in one short day. And we still had our problem with our tires. Luckily, we found a place in Butte, MT, and after a short 30 minutes we had our car back. After a small trip to a Walmart, we were back on the road. We had relatively few problems from there. I would say that our worst problem was when our car started to overheat while on a no-shoulder road construction area in Missoula. But other than that we made it into northern Idaho in a breeze.
I don't know if you heard, but two weeks ago I went on a one week trip with my dad to the Rocky Mountains in Montana. Sounds super fun, doesn't it? It really was, and it wasn’t just the mountains and being with my dad that made it fun. There were many, many other things that made this trip fun.
It all started when my dad told me that we were leaving in two days. I was confused about where we were going, and I was told we would be going to Montana. The next day I packed and played a new PS3 game my dad gave me (my siblings too, but it was presented mainly towards me), and the next morning, me and my dad left two hours later than we wanted to (but still at a reasonable time.)
The first few hours of the trip went pretty smoothly. I took a nap and when we were in Cavalier, ND, we stopped to buy some food. My dad even bought some sour gummy worms as a reward if we did something significant. It was smooth sailing from there. We drove on Highway 5 till we got to Highway 28, then we drove towards Williston, ND. The first problem started when my dad lost a data signal on his phone. He doesn't use Verizon or T-Mobile, so his coverage isn’t exactly the best. This was the case in a 40-mile radius outside Williston. We couldn't call anybody so that caused some concern. While in Williston, my dad noticed a smell in our car while a huge semi passed us. I said that the smell was the exhaust from the truck, but we were wrong. Even after that truck passed, the smell was still there.
Eventually we made it to Trenton, ND, which is about 7 miles west from Williston. We never made it out of that small town. Why you may ask? Well, we saw something that looked like smoke coming from the edges of the car's hood. We both instinctively looked at the engine heat dial, and saw that the arrow was about a centimeter past the “H” line. My dad immediately pulled over. We eventually learned that the coolant hose in the car had a big hole so the coolant had been leaking. We moved about 200 ft. to a more “parking lot” location and sat and evaluated our choices. My dad had no cell phone service, and I didn't want to use Emergency Mode on my phone.
That’s when Bob showed up!
Really! Just seconds after we discussed Emergency Mode, a guy pulled up from, literally, out of nowhere and asked if we needed help. We obviously said yes we needed help, because there was no way our car would would make it back to Williston and we couldn't do anything else so we accepted Bob’s help.
We drove to an auto parts store, and to our surprise, they actually had the exact part we needed. Many of you might not know, but we were driving a 1997 Subaru Legacy Brighton Wagon. Probably the ugliest and most unpopular car, that was both hard to find parts for, and just not a car in its day anymore. We installed the part, but then it started pouring rain and we just couldn’t keep going.(Note: Trenton is only about 6 miles from Montana.) Luckily, Bob gave us some rough directions to a campsite only a mile out of Trenton. The mosquitoes at the campsite were crazy, and I struggled to set up our tent, but we had a good dinner of grilled meat, and we slept mostly well. Oh, also, the campsite was free.
The next day went really smoothly. We drove as far as we could on I-94, but my dad felt some kind of vibration in the steering wheel, so we stopped in Billings Montana. Almost every auto repair center was full, so we spent 4 hours in Billings just looking for a place to help us find the problem in our car. We finally learned that our tires needed to be balanced, but by then it was six o’clock. Every auto repair shop was closed. So we continued on. I was the navigator, so I was responsible for finding where to camp. I saw that the Missouri River Headwaters State Park would be a nice place to camp, so we tried to camp there, but the campsite was full. And the camping fee was $28. But for the people who know me really, really well, then you should know that I never have a Plan B, but...SURPRISE!! I had one, so all we did was drive a half an hour more and we stayed at the Toll Mt Campsite. And it was free! This time I had a better experience setting up our tent and my dad and I grilled some meat and went to bed.
The next day went really well. I slept really well and we packed our things quickly. I took some pictures and this is when I heard the news that we were going to Idaho to see some friends. That meant we still had to drive the equivalent of another North Dakota in one short day. And we still had our problem with our tires. Luckily, we found a place in Butte, MT, and after a short 30 minutes we had our car back. After a small trip to a Walmart, we were back on the road. We had relatively few problems from there. I would say that our worst problem was when our car started to overheat while on a no-shoulder road construction area in Missoula. But other than that we made it into northern Idaho in a breeze.
The next two days we were at our friends' house, and it was really cool. I got to drive an ATV for the first time, and really, it's quite simple. All you have to know is gas, break, and steering, and from there all you do is drive. Also, most of the food we ate was all home grown or homemade which made the food a lot better. Eventually we had to go, so we said goodbye to our friends and we continued on our trip. Now, when my dad and I were at the Toll Mt campsite, we were planning to hike some portion of the Anaconda range in Montana. Where we were going to hike exactly, we didn't know but,when we got back to Montana, we made it all the way around Butte, MT, and back around to the Spring Hill Campsite. There was only one problem. The campground was full. Or was it?
My dad drove around the campsite to make sure that it was full, but then we took a look at some spots that said "Reserved" and took a look at the signs. We came across this one site that said that the people that were coming, would come later the next day. So my dad paid for the campsite, and the camp owners tried to kick us out, but they saw our logic and let us stay at the site. The next morning my dad finalized the decision on where we would go hiking, which would be the Storm Lake Pass Trail. We left the campground at about ten in the morning and had to stop just 2 miles short of the trail head. Why? Our car rode really low to the ground and the last two miles would have been torture to the car. So we took our packs and we started our overnight trip. That's right, my dad and I would be taking an overnight hike on our trail, so we packed our sleeping bags, tent, clothes, food, even some gummy worms we bought in Anaconda.
The first few hours of the hike were okay, but eventually my shoes started to pinch my feet. We had to stop many times for that. My dad also had some foot issues, so I had somewhat of an excuse if I wanted to rest. (Note: The trail was 3.6 miles long. Since we had to leave the car two miles from the trail head, the trip was actually 5.6 miles one way.) We hiked some painfully steep climbs, slipped many times on snow, (Yes there was snow. Lots of it.) took breaks, and repeated the process until we reached the continental divide.
Now we had a choice. We could go check out a mountain on the Great Continental Divide, or we could continue on the trail and go to Goat Flats. Well, knowing my dad, I knew he would want to go off route and use his map to his advantage. I didn't agree, so we climbed up the mountain, almost lost one of our packs off a 400-foot drop. I took some pictures of flowers and we decided to then go back to the trail and head to Goat Flats. My legs were just about to cripple, so in the middle of the small plateau, I told my dad that I had found a good spot, and then I fell to the ground. Literally. I dropped my pack and laid on the rough grass. I knew I still had to do some chores, so I set up our tent (I could do it really well by memory.), laid out the sleeping bags and inflatable ground pads, then I lay down to rest.
I'd been resting for five minutes, listening to some music, when all of a sudden I sneezed, and blood was everywhere. Yep, I had a bloody nose. My dad said it was caused by the air pressure change, and I guess he was right. We were at about 9,300 feet above sea level, which also explained my shortness of breath. But other than that, I chilled either outside, or in the tent because I didn't want to take anymore pictures, or move.That night we went to bed relatively early, but we were woken up by a large windstorm in the middle of the night. It undid some stakes from the tent and made it loose, but, after my dad fixed the stakes, it was fine.
The next morning was fast. We left within 40 minutes after getting up (which was at about 7am), and it only took us two hours to get down to the trail head (about 3 miles). It really surprised me because it took us six hours just to get up the mountain the day before, but then again, we were going down. When we reached the trail head, we stopped for a break, and decided to attend to our hurting feet and our craving desire for gummy worms. After that, it was a long two miles. Hiking on dirt roads for an extended period of time can be just about the most boring thing ever. But we made it back to the car, and we just hit the road home from there. We drove so far after that, that we even made it back to Trenton, ND, which was about 10 hours worth of driving.
The next morning would be our last morning on our trip. We slept in, had a relaxing morning, and we eventually headed out. This time, NO car troubles. When we were in Mohall, ND, we checked the weather and learned that there was a storm 60 miles ahead of us. So my dad and I played a game. We were obviously going to catch the storm, but when? I guessed before we got to Cavalier. He guessed we would catch it in or after Cavalier. And actually I won! We caught the first few raindrops just one mile before Cavalier. We stopped in Cavalier for gas.We caught the storm one more time in Greenbush, MN, but after that, it was only cloudy. After about 40 minutes, we arrived home, and when my dad and I walked through our door...let's just say it was chaotic in a good way.
Have a fantastic next week,
David, a.k.a WAKWIR (Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence
The first few hours of the hike were okay, but eventually my shoes started to pinch my feet. We had to stop many times for that. My dad also had some foot issues, so I had somewhat of an excuse if I wanted to rest. (Note: The trail was 3.6 miles long. Since we had to leave the car two miles from the trail head, the trip was actually 5.6 miles one way.) We hiked some painfully steep climbs, slipped many times on snow, (Yes there was snow. Lots of it.) took breaks, and repeated the process until we reached the continental divide.
Now we had a choice. We could go check out a mountain on the Great Continental Divide, or we could continue on the trail and go to Goat Flats. Well, knowing my dad, I knew he would want to go off route and use his map to his advantage. I didn't agree, so we climbed up the mountain, almost lost one of our packs off a 400-foot drop. I took some pictures of flowers and we decided to then go back to the trail and head to Goat Flats. My legs were just about to cripple, so in the middle of the small plateau, I told my dad that I had found a good spot, and then I fell to the ground. Literally. I dropped my pack and laid on the rough grass. I knew I still had to do some chores, so I set up our tent (I could do it really well by memory.), laid out the sleeping bags and inflatable ground pads, then I lay down to rest.
I'd been resting for five minutes, listening to some music, when all of a sudden I sneezed, and blood was everywhere. Yep, I had a bloody nose. My dad said it was caused by the air pressure change, and I guess he was right. We were at about 9,300 feet above sea level, which also explained my shortness of breath. But other than that, I chilled either outside, or in the tent because I didn't want to take anymore pictures, or move.That night we went to bed relatively early, but we were woken up by a large windstorm in the middle of the night. It undid some stakes from the tent and made it loose, but, after my dad fixed the stakes, it was fine.
The next morning was fast. We left within 40 minutes after getting up (which was at about 7am), and it only took us two hours to get down to the trail head (about 3 miles). It really surprised me because it took us six hours just to get up the mountain the day before, but then again, we were going down. When we reached the trail head, we stopped for a break, and decided to attend to our hurting feet and our craving desire for gummy worms. After that, it was a long two miles. Hiking on dirt roads for an extended period of time can be just about the most boring thing ever. But we made it back to the car, and we just hit the road home from there. We drove so far after that, that we even made it back to Trenton, ND, which was about 10 hours worth of driving.
The next morning would be our last morning on our trip. We slept in, had a relaxing morning, and we eventually headed out. This time, NO car troubles. When we were in Mohall, ND, we checked the weather and learned that there was a storm 60 miles ahead of us. So my dad and I played a game. We were obviously going to catch the storm, but when? I guessed before we got to Cavalier. He guessed we would catch it in or after Cavalier. And actually I won! We caught the first few raindrops just one mile before Cavalier. We stopped in Cavalier for gas.We caught the storm one more time in Greenbush, MN, but after that, it was only cloudy. After about 40 minutes, we arrived home, and when my dad and I walked through our door...let's just say it was chaotic in a good way.
Have a fantastic next week,
David, a.k.a WAKWIR (Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence
On This Day
Historic Highlights (credits)
2013 Government of Detroit declares bankruptcy
The city, which was up to $20 billion in debt, became the largest municipal entity in the United States to declare bankruptcy.
1993 Agathe Uwilingiyimana elected as Prime Minister of Rwanda
Rwanda's only female prime minister's tenure was cut short when she was assassinated at the outset of the Rwandan genocide.
1968 Intel is founded
Founded in Santa Clara, California, the Intel corporation is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer.
1925 Mein Kampf is published
Adolf Hitler's autobiographical book was written while he served his sentence for treason in prison.
1870 The first Vatican Council, also known as Vatican I, decrees the doctrine of Papal infallibility
The doctrine claims that the Pope cannot err when speaking on issues of morality and/ or faith.
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
The city, which was up to $20 billion in debt, became the largest municipal entity in the United States to declare bankruptcy.
1993 Agathe Uwilingiyimana elected as Prime Minister of Rwanda
Rwanda's only female prime minister's tenure was cut short when she was assassinated at the outset of the Rwandan genocide.
1968 Intel is founded
Founded in Santa Clara, California, the Intel corporation is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer.
1925 Mein Kampf is published
Adolf Hitler's autobiographical book was written while he served his sentence for treason in prison.
1870 The first Vatican Council, also known as Vatican I, decrees the doctrine of Papal infallibility
The doctrine claims that the Pope cannot err when speaking on issues of morality and/ or faith.
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
1980 - Kristen Bell, American actress
1950 - Jack Layton, Canadian politician
1950 - Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group
1921 - John Glenn, American astronaut, politician
1918 - Nelson Mandela, South African politician, President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate
1950 - Jack Layton, Canadian politician
1950 - Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group
1921 - John Glenn, American astronaut, politician
1918 - Nelson Mandela, South African politician, President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate
Remembering You
1988 - Nico, German singer-songwriter, model, actress
1918 - Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine
1872 - Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer, politician, 25th President of Mexico
1817 - Jane Austen, English author
1792 - John Paul Jones, American navy commander
1918 - Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine
1872 - Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer, politician, 25th President of Mexico
1817 - Jane Austen, English author
1792 - John Paul Jones, American navy commander
Great story! Lots of detail -- I like that. Interesting personal insights, like your dad enjoying gummy worms. I can't imagine my dad ever eating gummy worms; they'd stick something terrible to his dentures. Having car trouble on vacation is just the pits especially in the middle of nowhere, as is being disorientated when you have no backup road atlas along. Tire trouble ... Great adventure! Thanks for another great post.
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